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Two Decades of Change in Europe: The Emergence of the Social Investment State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2012

KEES VAN KERSBERGEN  and
ANTON HEMERIJCK
KEES VAN KERSBERGEN
Affiliation:
Aarhus University, Department of Political Science and Government, Building 1331 Bartholins Allé 7 DK-8000 Århus CDenmark email: kvk@ps.au.dk
ANTON HEMERIJCK
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University, De Boelelaan 1081 - z116, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands email: ac.hemerijck@vu.nl
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Abstract

Since the late 1970s, the developed welfare states of the European Union have been recasting the policy mix on which their systems of social protection were built. They have adopted a new policy orthodoxy that could be summarised as the ‘social investment strategy’. Here we trace its origins and major developments. The shift is characterised by a move away from passive transfers and towards the maximalisation of employability and employment, but there are significant national distinctions and regime specific trajectories. We discuss some caveats, focusing on the question whether the new policy paradigm has been established at the expense of social policies that mitigate poverty and inequality.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 475 - 492
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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